U18s go down in a rare defeat

[SouthfieldWhite]

U18s lost3-0 to a  decentAston Villa side this afternoon.

With a few influential players missing,we lacked a cutting edge.
Villa looked impressive although 3-0 slightly flattered Villa

The real down side wasn't so much the result, but seeing right back Noa baba get taken away in an ambulance, after a tackle on the far side of the pitch, hope its not too bad

[Jamie88]

Seems odd for us to lose by this defecit!
Anyone know how bad Baba's neck injury is? Seems pretty bad if the whole match was delayed by 20 minutes like the website says..hope its nothing more than a bad landing and they were just taking precautions..

Also, just checking the lineup, who was Boot in goal and another player Humphries? Not heard of them before.

[res]

Boot is a goal keeper we've taken "on trial" from Port Vale. No idea about Humphries. Suspect that the U18s will go through a losing patch as some have gone up to the U21s (Dembele)...which is a good thing for individuals' development.

[cmg]

Not even Melchester Rovers won all their games.

Some variation of form is to be expected at this level where personnell changes are inevitable.

Stephen Humphrys is a 16 years old from Manchester.
I presume Rodak is injured (unless he is on international duty) - his deputy, Magnus Norman, certainly is. I think the sub keeper yesterday, Oliver Sutton, is the son of Chris Sutton. They have featured together for Wroxham (Ryman League).
The injury to Noe Baba. a really impressive player and character, overshadowed the occasion and it is to be hoped that it is not too serious.
Apart from the deservedly promoted Dembele the team obviously missed the skills of Pat Roberts who is off to Armenia with the England u17s. where they play the hosts, Republic of Ireland and (rather strangely) Gibraltar in a Euro qualifier tournement.

[MasterHaynes]

Heard Dave Beasant when he arrived ask for Vic(Bettinelli)and say he had come to watch the keeper who was on loan from Port Vale? Thought the referee was awful yesterday,after 15 minutes I commented that someone was going to get injured if the ref did not get a grip quickly. Too many follow throughs and late tackles. From my position it looked like Noe got caught by a fore arm/shoulder as the player came in at him from the side connecting with his Jaw, sending him flying sidewards. the referee was in perfect postion and gave nothing. Did you notice he spent most of the time while Noe was being treated explaining to the linesman that it was an accident and nothing untoward happened clearly saw him word 'nothing he could have done'. His job is to protect players and he failed miserably yesterday, he was lucky other players weren't injured and have to explain that away.

[cmg]

Yes Boot was the keeper. Oliver Sutton was on the bench. I'd never seen, nor heard of either before.

It's very disappointing when the referee fails to protect the players, particularly at junior level. Obsessed as we are with results in the cut-throat world of the Premier League, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that, at junior level, winning, although very desirable, is not the most important factor.

Noe Baba's tweets, or whatever they call them, seem to indicate he is not in too bad a way.